Quality of Key Personnel
Project Director
Dr. Thomas Payne from the CBPA will serve as Project Director at 15% time. Dr. Payne is the
Horace and Sara Dunagan Chair of Excellence in Banking and Professor of Finance at UT Martin. He
has 20 years’ combined business and educational experience. His non-academic experience includes
working for two Fortune 500 companies, Texas Instruments Incorporated and Rockwell International,
both of which maintain a significant international presence. His academic background and current
activities include a diversified range of international courses and experiences.
Dr. Payne was instrumental in the development and delivery of an Executive MBA program at
UT Chattanooga that incorporated a significant international component. In 1995, after teaching EMBA
students important aspects of international finance, he served as a faculty mentor and accompanied
graduate students to China for an intensive cultural and business education experience. In 2000, Dr.
Payne taught International Finance in London, England for undergraduate students from different
universities.
In 2001, he served as a member of a three-person delegation including the UT Martin Chancellor
and the Chair of Modern Foreign Languages to Spain, France and Germany. The resulting establishment
of formal relationships with universities in all three countries has facilitated many educational and
development opportunities for students and faculty. In 2002, Dr. Payne again represented UT Martin and
the CBPA as a member of a delegation to the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC).
Additionally, Dr. Payne has worked with the Financial Services Volunteer Corporation (FSVC),
an international non-profit agency with a mission to educate bankers in emerging markets as they
transition to a market economy. As chair of banking, he partnered with regional bank executives to
develop and deliver successful training programs for bankers from Russia and Albania. He is currently
partnering with the Tennessee Chapter of the American Institute of Banking to develop and deliver a
Spanish for Bankers Training Program in West Tennessee.
Dr. Payne currently serves as president of the Martin Rotary Club – the local chapter of Rotary
International, is coordinator for the CBPA AACSB – International reaffirmation of business accreditation
effort, is a member of Financial Executives International, and chairs the UT Martin Regional
Advancement Council and the Martin Industrial Development Board. In the latter capacity he has served
to establish policies and procedures for industrial growth and participated in the successful recruitment of
internationally based businesses to the region. With his diverse international experience, previous
project-management industry background in private industry, and his current capacity as the Chair of
Banking and member of the Dean’s executive team, Dr. Payne brings significant expertise and
administrative ability to the Global Business Education Through Partnerships Program.
Other Project Personnel
Dr. Paul Crapo will devote 15% of his time to serve as Co-Project Director. He chairs the
Modern Foreign Languages Department and directs the Center for Global Studies. He is a specialist in
French language and culture and has published numerous papers on society, politics, and art in 19thcentury France. Dr. Crapo has devoted much of his career to developing opportunities for students to
integrate language and culture into their undergraduate studies. Dr. Crapo, in 24 years of service at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn, designed and directed a successful International Studies Program,
organized many travel/study excursions to Quebec, and worked with the consulates and trade delegations
of several foreign countries. Since coming to UT Martin in the fall of 1995, he has developed studyabroad programs in Quebec, Mexico, France, Germany, and Spain, has founded an International Lecture
Series, and has been named the Director of the campus’s Center for Global Studies. He has supported the
activities of the MRCC, the Memphis World Trade Club, the MEAC, and the World Trade Council of
Middle Tennessee (Nashville). For over 20 years, Dr. Crapo has maintained close ties with business and
government.
Dr. Ernest Moser, Dean of the CBPA, will serve the project as Coordinator of CBPA Activities,
and will spend 10% of his time on this project. Dr. Moser has extensive experience in international
education, having taught in Hong Kong on 5 separate occasions. As part of a delegation from a previous
university, he attended a conference in Eastern Europe. The governor of Louisiana also appointed him to
the Louisiana Priorities for the Future Taskforce.
Additionally, other key personnel for the project will be Mr. Stan Sieber and Ms. Sandra Baker,
who will each devote 10% of their time to the project. Stan Sieber, Professor of History and Director of
the International Studies Major, will assist the Project Director in the development of the B.A. degree
program in International Studies with a concentration in Global Finance. As coordinator of the University
Travel Study program, Mr. Sieber will help develop travel study opportunities for faculty, students, and
business leaders. Mr. Sieber has been travel study coordinator for the University since 1981. Ms. Baker
is a Modern Foreign Languages Professor, having taught French, Spanish, and ESL classes. As Director
of OIPA for 25 years, she has been involved in international admissions, developing and directing shortterm international programs, and is the University’s Immigration Specialist. Ms. Baker is multilingual,
speaking French and Spanish, some German and some Portuguese, and has reading knowledge of Italian,
Portuguese, Latin, Russian and Japanese. She has extensive international travel experience (e. g.,
Northern Africa, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Northern and Southern Europe, Australia).